Month: January 2016

Here at Salty Running we take running very very seriously. Elite runners are also people who take running very very seriously. Put Salty Running and elite runners together and surely such an event would be of the utmost in seriousness, with conversations about lactate thresholds and glycogen depletion and …

real talk: whether men should race in briefs too.

Of all those things we only discussed one of them. Guess which one.

Yep, while we take running seriously and we bring the focus when necessary, we’re usually about as serious as the last time someone suggested you wear your Crocs out.

How’s this for a topic switch. Jacksonville amazingness to … warts. WARTS!

A couple of weeks ago I was walking around my kitchen and felt like I had a little pebble stuck to my foot. I brushed it off, but it persisted. Why is a pebble stuck to my foot? I wondered. I brushed it again, and again, and the stupid thing wouldn’t come off. This called for a visual inspection. I sat down, lifted my foot and I knew immediately what was going on. A plantar wart.

At first, I blew it off as a minor annoyance. I’ve had many warts over the years on my hands, one on my upper arm (weird!) and then a big one on a toe that took eight months of daily over-the-counter treatment to finally get rid of. This last one was over ten years ago, but none of them was ever more annoying beyond grossing me out a little. Oh, but plantar warts are different, particularly for runners. I learned this first hand, as the minor annoyance became a constant sharp and throbbing pain in my foot. It caused me to walk and probably run weirdly, which caused other things to hurt and – UGH! – right before we were scheduled to travel to Jacksonville!

How could a squishy mid-pack runner like me ever fit in with the elites?

So we went to Jacksonville and now you know our reasons, but perhaps you are left wondering why a back or middle of the pack runner would care about Jacksonville. About elite runners. How are these fast women connected to you? Why should you care?

To dispel any myths here: my first race had a mile pace of 15 minutes and my last race had a pace of 7:45. I’ve been the slowest woman on my team many times, and it’s pretty rare that I can hang with the fast crowd. I’m happy with my progress, but really over four years of writing for SR I’ve gone from solidly average to just a hair above average. As for Jacksonville, a week ago I was essentially in the same boat as most other mid-packers. I’ll likely never compete with these elite women or at their level, so before this weekend I didn’t think that I fit into any discussion about them.

I knew Jacksonville would be fun, and was excited to spend time with my sister there, but throughout the experience I wasn’t quite certain what our role was. Salty tried to explain her ideas to me, but it didn’t really amount to much out of context. Obviously we had taken on a job, providing media coverage of women at the biggest elite field a small scale half marathon had ever seen, but … why? Salty Running isn’t the Gawker of running, or even the New York Times, but something was nonetheless compelling me to do this exhausting work. Something bigger.

As a Salty reader you might look at the title of this post, snort, and then wonder if I’ve lost my mind.

A Fitbit? Really, Ginger?

Well, I thought the same thing. That is, until a few months ago.

Last year, the company I work for purchased a Fitbit for every employee. The goal was to encourage us to regularly get up from behind our desks by inspiring us to meet the Fitbit’s 10,000 step goal. HR even created step competitions, complete with prizes for the winning teams. As a serious runner, when I first got mine I was reluctant to even open the package. I at once assumed that a Fitbit would do nothing for me personally since I track my mileage already.

As a serious runner, I also assumed that I’d easily slay the competition. I reluctantly donned my Fitbit and got out there and went through my normal weeks. Holy reality check! On most running days I was over 10,000 steps, it wasn’t by nearly as much as I thought I would be. Oh, but it got worse. It was my rest days that revealed the really painful truth that when I’m not running, I’m pretty sedentary.

After the blow to my ego wore off, I realized that this was an opportunity to learn about myself and to change some of my habits to improve my overall well-being. Read more >>

On Monday night, Esther Atkins published a great article that explained, from the participating athlete’s perspective, why the Jacksonville Half was such a special race. She highlighted three points: participants came for the love of the sport over personal glory; the benefits to performance of helping or being helped; and the positive buzz surrounding the whole endeavor. Everything that Esther Atkins writes about was what intrigued me about this race from go.

Back in October, when I heard about the plans, I immediately reached out to Richard Fannin, who had never met me, never heard of me, had no idea what I was doing, but asked me to give him a call to talk about it on the spot. While we chatted it was obvious how passionate he was for the sport and how committed he was to pulling his crazy plan off. Maybe because he could tell I shared his passion or probably just because he’s really nice, within minutes of making my acquaintance I had an invitation to Jacksonville. Having never covered a race, having hardly traveled since having kids, having absolutely no idea what to expect, I jumped. I didn’t know why at the time; I’m usually cautious about these things, but my gut made me do it.

Esther does spectacular work explaining why Jacksonville was a special race for those elite and subelite runners who raced there, but maybe you’re left wondering why you should care about Jacksonville. Heck, you might be wondering why we went to Jacksonville.

We didn’t go to Jacksonville to rub elbows with running legends or rising stars. We didn’t go to promote ourselves. We didn’t go to provide race play-by-play or to report on stats (we’ll leave that to Fannin). We didn’t go as fangirls. We didn’t go because it was easy for us to get there (it wasn’t).

For many runners, especially those adult-onset runners who catch the running bug later in life, it’s all about the marathon. It’s a lofty aspiration, a great topic of conversations at cocktail parties, and well worth its place on the bucket list.

The marathon, however, is not on my bucket list. While my big dream running goal might not impress anyone around the office water cooler, it’s more intense than a marathon and it requires just as much bravery: one fast mile. Read more >>

I laughed out loud at myself while writing that, so I hope you get the reference!

Recovery update!

I have three more days left in foot jail, also known as the walking boot, and I’m free to do low-impact exercise. Still no running. I have put my injury to the test this week by running on it, by accident of course. How does one run by accident, you ask? When the cat is climbing into the dishwasher and one needs to make a mad dash across the room. It felt no different after the “run,” so I suppose that’s a good sign!

On NYE, I wore a high heel with my boot because an injury is not about to ruin my outfit. One of my best friends is in a walking boot too, hilariously enough, also on her left foot.

Boot sisters. I’m the one in the heel!

2015 Running Recap:

I ran 3 half marathons in three different states, achieving my destination race goal for the year. I broke my 5K PR, and am hoping to do that again in 2016. I ran my first long-distance relay, covering 137 miles with 8 teammates. My highest mileage month peaked at 113 miles in September. And finally, I ended the year on the bench when I was diagnosed with a stress fracture, and covered 0 miles in December, also a notable record.

The Ultimate 2016 Countdown:

3 days – I’m out of the boot

10 days – My last day at my full-time job

22 days – I fly to Malaga, Spain and make it my home! (Still waiting for that Visa. Stress is so great!)

35-60 days – I’m cleared to run again! (Let’s pray for that smaller number, shall we?)

2016 goals:

I’m not a fan of resolutions since I generally try lead the lifestyle I want all the time. But I do believe in setting goals year round. In 2016 I want to

complete my first triathlon

run a race in another country (even if it’s a 5K)

run a second full marathon

My friend and I have a goal of running the Marine Corps Marathon in full red, white, and blue gear. This will be the most patriotic homecoming ever after spending half the year in Europe.

I also hope to follow in my Salty mentors’ footsteps and increase mileage safely to become a bit faster in the coming years!

I found my drug … er … running shoe of choice at my local running store. The zero-drop shoe craze was on, and the salesperson showed me the new Brooks Pure line. She knew I ran in stability shoes, and suggested the Cadence.

I looked over at the display and a single sunbeam broke through the dreary, gray Eugene sky to illuminate a teal and lime-green shoe perched on the clear plastic shelf. The faux toe split and the sleek rounded design immediately attracted me, but once the shoe nestled my foot in its supportive, responsive, and bouncy embrace as I took a test-jog up and down the sidewalk, I knew I had found the One.

I took advantage of this full week off work to run as many miles as possible, with a final total of 70. Even though I used to knock out 100+ mile weeks, I was pretty pleased with this. Workouts went well and I managed to schedule two fun runs with friends.

On Saturday I ran the Frigid 5k race in 21:58. The course is part gravel, part grass, and then about a quarter mile on a narrow woodsy “path” with really poor footing. One of my teammates was there and I knew she’d run much faster than I was capable of, so I put in just enough effort to get 2nd place without risking injury in the woods. She beat me by 2.5 minutes – super fast time for this course!

Monday: 7.6 miles @ 7:56 average pace in cold rain including 4x strides. 3.5 @ 8:36 in the evening on the treadmill.

Tuesday: 7.4 @ 8:30 in the morning, 3.5 @ 8:31 in the evening.

Wednesday: 3.5 @ 8:40 pace super early because I was awakened by a puking cat. Ugh. In the evening on the treadmill ran 7.3 miles @ 7:20 average including 30 minutes tempo @ 6:38 average.

Thursday: 12.2 @ 8:38 average with a friend who just moved back to Columbus. This was my longest run in a few months so I expected to struggle but I felt great and it went by so fast!

When I am lying about my running, I tell people that I race because all adults should have a hobby, because I need a good excuse to leave the bar, and because I want the mug.

We’re talking about THE mug – the one that goes to the top 100 male and female finishers at this Thanksgiving race that I run when I’m in shape sometimes, and oh God, even now I’m downplaying how important this race is to me.

Let’s be real: I’ve never been out of the top 10. I’m probably going to get a mug every time. But for some unspoken reason, the Ashenfelter 8K is my white whale, my albatross, my [fill in literary allusion], and as long as I’ve raced it, I’ve wondered if I had sub-30 in me.

There was absolutely no reason to think that I’d be anywhere close this year. Read more >>

So…. I’m not sure where I’ve been for the past few weeks, but I know for sure I haven’t been here doing a lot of writing! I guess I also haven’t been doing much worthy of documenting in a training log either. I had excellent intentions of staying on top of my fitness over the holidays, but not great with the follow through. I cut myself a little slack because I know that marathon training is just around the corner and there won’t be any big breaks till after I run my marathon in May. I enjoy relaxing and eating and spending time with friends and family over the holidays and by January I’m usually feeling pretty motivated and grateful to return to a routine. Here is a very quick rundown of how I’ve been spending my time over the past few weeks!

Week of 12/14-12/20

Monday 12/14

Spin class- 50 min/ 21.8 miles

The rest of the week? NOTHING. In my defense, it was a busy week at work and in my free time I was getting our family packed and ready for our Christmas trip to see family in Las Vegas. This was our first time flying with the kiddos and I promise you, it was as hectic as you can imagine.

Week of 12/21- 12/27

Monday 12/21

Elliptical 40 min/ 5.44 miles

The rest of the week? NOTHING. Okay, I did do a TON of walking during our week in Vegas, so at least I wasn’t completely sloth-like. I packed a ton of workout gear, as I had intended on enjoying a lot of outdoor running while we were there. The hotel we stayed at for the first few days of our trip was 1 block off the Vegas strip and there was nowhere that seemed safe to run alone. The hotel we stayed at the last few days of our trip was also in a location that seemed pretty unsafe. While I would have loved to fit in a few runs while on our trip, it felt great just to relax and spend time with family.

we went to a restaurant that sold gourmet hot dogs. Be still my heart!

This is the face of someone who has spent the last 8 days traveling with family.

Week of 12/28-1/3

Finally finally finally back to a bit of a routine? Sort of!

Monday 12/28

Treadmill run 2 miles/ 23:42/ 11:50 pace

Elliptical 10 min/ 1 mile

In anticipation of starting a training plan that requires me to run my easy runs at 1:00- 2:00 slower than goal marathon pace, I played around with my pacing on the treadmill today. My goal pace for my next marathon is 10:00 min/miles, so I’m looking at running my easy runs at 11:00-12:00 pace. I learned two things from this: 1) my heart rate is much higher at this slower pace than I anticipated. My peak HR should be around 183, and during this and other easy runs I have done since, my HR average is in the 170’s. This run did not FEEL like I was putting in a hard effort, but my HR sure thought so. 2) Running slow on a treadmill is boring.

Tuesday 12/29

Treadmill run 4.07 miles/ 44:03/ 10:50 pace

Wednesday and Thursday 12/30- 12/31

I woke up on Wednesday morning and couldn’t turn my head without shooting pain. I went to my chiropractor right away on Wednesday morning and he said my neck muscles were a hot mess. I went to the chiro again on Thursday for another adjustment and then to the doctor to get muscle relaxers and anti-inflammatories. I spent NYE pretty much asleep and drugged up.

Friday 1/1

Happy New Year to me! I woke up and my neck felt great! After two solid days of not moving, I had to get to the gym. In the past, I would’ve tried to push myself hard because I’m terrible about common sense and listening to my body. This day I just did an easy elliptical workout to get a little sweaty and move my body.

Elliptical 60 min/ 9.83 miles

Saturday 1/2

A gorgeous day! 25 degrees and sunshine! Again tried to run slow enough to keep my HR low, but again couldn’t keep it below 170 for most of my run, in spite of running 1:30 slower than my usual pace. It didn’t feel like a hard effort at all. I’ve never done any training that is based on HR, so this is all new territory for me.

This week was a little different, but in a fun way. I moved things around and also changed the structure of the week to better suit the holiday, and the weekend. Basically, I knew New Years Day would be a roll of the dice for what got done so I didn’t bank on anything super important like a workout or a long run.

As for the weekend, we spent Saturday and Sunday cashing in the Christmas present I got for Brian. Buffalo sports weekend, the Sabres hockey game on Saturday followed by dinner/hotel and then the Bills game on Sunday. I wanted a weekend away for us, that didn’t revolve around running (our last 2 weekends away in the fall were both centered around my races). This fell at a great time, to ring in the new year and get away right after but also right before Boston training officially starts.

Monday: 7 miles at recovery pace + 8 x strides after work

Tuesday: Treadmill workout with 3 x 1 mile repeats, total of 8 miles after work + 12 minutes yoga

6 weeks ago I took a complete week off of running to step back, recover and unwind after a busy year. The past 5 weeks haven’t been anything crazy, with mileage between 43-48 each week. My goal was to head into 2016 fresh and ready for training, but also to have a decent base. I feel comfortable with where I am at, but also want to dive into things again. I like training, I like routine and purpose and admittedly I like how it makes me feel physically and mentally.

Today (Jan 4th)is my official first day of training for Boston. I have mulled over my plan for a while now, but feel confident in it. It’s not going to be anything ridiculously new but I think it will be a good step for me and hopefully another Sub-3 come April. My mileage is going to be higher than in the past, but not overwhelmingly high- I like my balance of quality and quantity and also life. So, I’m on my way to Boston # 3 and marathon # 14.

The plan was even 5:41 splits for 13.1 miles, delivering her pack as close to 1:14:30 as she could. If anyone could do it, it was Brianne Nelson, aka “the human metronome,” a woman reknowned for her even pacing. She’s also one of the few women for whom 5:41 pace is relatively pedestrian.

Brianne is also not someone who runs for glory; for her, it’s all about the pursuit of excellence. Today it wasn’t even about the pursuit of her own, although getting in a good pre-trials half-marathon effort definitely helps her in that, today she braved chilly temperatures on the rainy streets of Jacksonville to lead others to excellence. Today it was about harnessing the Power of the Pack to help the 21 women who travelled to Jacksonville in hopes of qualifying for the Olympic Marathon Trials.

So, yes, I’ve been away a long time. I had every intention of posting regularly about my recovery after FAI and labral repair hip arthroscopy in September, but life got the best of me. And to be honest, writing about recovery and one’s inability to train and run can be a bit depressing. So I dutifully went to PT twice a week and chose not to think or talk or write about what I wasn’t doing.

My surgeon officially cleared me to run at 12 weeks post-op, and my physical therapist cautioned me to take it very, very slowly. I jokingly asked, “What am I supposed to do, Couch to 5k? Hahahaha…”. And he deadpanned, “Yes.”

Okay then. Couch to 5k it is. So far, I’m up to Week 5, Day 2, which included two whopping rounds of running for 8 minutes straight. But as lame as that sounds, I only have to glance back to Week 2 to make Week 5 feel epic.

I’ve modified the return to run slightly in that I’m running every other day versus just three times a week. I also plan to add in a back-to-back day this coming week. While it may seem like I’m accelerating the C25K “weeks” a bit, I am still being very conservative and cautious about my total weekly mileage and time on my feet, following the spirit of the law that my surgeon and physical therapist have laid down.

Here’s the breakdown for this week’s run/ walk training:

Monday – 2.5 miles

Tuesday – off

Wednesday – 2.5 miles

Thursday – off

Friday – 2.8 miles

Saturday – off

Sunday – 3.0 miles

Total – 10.8 miles

Yep, 11 whole miles if you want to round up. How cute. Remember when that was half of ONE run?

I promised myself I wouldn’t compare my current mileage to what I’d once done. But lookie there, I just broke my promise. I often brandish a quote from C.S. Lewis on my kids when they are being ungrateful little punks. I tell them, “Comparison is the thief of joy.” And I’m right. (Well, actually, C.S. Lewis is right, and I’m just really good at copying smart people.) One of the worst things a person in recovery can do is compare themselves to where they were pre-injury. It’s a mean thing to to do, and it serves no purpose at all. What does serve a purpose is to focus on progress. And in the last few weeks, I’ve gone from running zero miles to 11 miles, all of which have been virtually pain free.

YOU GUYS, I’m on my way.

I’m on my way, not back to where I was before, but to places I haven’t been yet. Even faster, even farther, even stronger. Yeah, yeah. It’s going to take an ever-loving year to get there. But did I mention I’m on my way?

Happy New Year Salty Readers! I rung in the New Year with a bike ride and an evening of dancing and plenty of walking to get to our various haunts for the night and then got up early the next morning to join the Salty Running Crew for two loops of the Cleveland Bridges. Here’s hoping for a great year of fitness in 2016.

Keeping up the no caffeine and no alcohol routine and still doing pretty well on the 3 meals a day despite the craziness of the holiday’s (cookies for breakfast totally counts right?).